~ This WordPress.com site is the cat’s pajamas

On time and money

There was a movie called In Time which had the interesting premise of people being paid in time instead of money. There were people who had become immortal, and there were others who were living off borrowed seconds every day, borrowed from their friends, from their family, taken on loan, etc. It was a totally fair depiction of actually what money is. Money is nothing but the time you earn for yourself to do what you want to. The richer you are, the more you can spend your time the way you want to.

Consider. What if we were paid in words? If words were currency, if you had a limited stock and would have to work your ass off for earning some every day, would you spend them in the same way you do now? Or would you use them differently? Maybe a kind word would cost you half, an angry word double and you would have to pay through your nose for a lie. A beautiful phrase could be auctioned off for billions and wordsmiths would be yachting in the Mediterranean everyday.

Consider here too you were middle class. You neednt worry about spending some needlessly any day but continue the indulgent habit for many days and you’d start fretting. What if you run out?

Would you spend words the same way you do now? Would you be careful with them? Would you only spend them indulgently on a holiday? Would you embrace silence to be richer everyday?

Consider. If you’d make a new friend, it would literally cost you. People might just silently wave off unwelcome hi’s and hellos. If every word you spend after a person could be an utter waste or an investment – a short term one or a long term one. Would you change the way you talk to people? Would your word be more respected by strangers and friends because they know it costs you?

How would you spend your words in such a world?

I am generally a person of doubt. I make conclusions very very slowly. I am rarely sure of what exactly I want or what I would do in hypothetical situations.

But, for once, I know exactly what I would do. There isn’t an iota of doubt in my head. I’d be exactly the same. And how could I be so sure?

Just think about it. What, without exception, is the single biggest gift you can give someone? Could it be a million dollars? Yes – if someone is a pauper. No- if someone isn’t. Could it be mind blowing sex but wouldn’t that leave you hungry for more, and end up being a punishment rather than a reward? Wisdom, perspective or insight comes close but it would be a one time gift. No. The only goose that lays golden eggs everyday, the only gift that keeps on giving until it doesn’t, is time. That’s the biggest gift bar none. A gift that’s totally essential to your being purely because it is unnecessary. In this age of endless distractions, a multitude of avenues of relentless mind fucking entertainment, there can be no bigger gift or a bigger trade. It’s generally stupid to acknowledge it because it’s the age of subtleties and cynicism, but it’s one of those facts that stays true across universes and across ages.

So there’s a place where you’d get richer everytime you needlessly spend a fortune, wouldn’t you too? Spend words like there’s no tomorrow? Spend spend spend without a single thought of paucity or scarcity in your head?